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UMD Nets a DOE Award for Innovative Energy Research Projects

UMD Nets a DOE Award for Innovative Energy Research Projects

Projects will help enable advances in energy production and use

June 18, 2014

WASHINGTON -- The University of Maryland's NanoStructures for Electrical Energy Storage was awarded a grant by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz today. Two hundred proposals were submitted, and forty were chosen for this coveted award.

The research supported by this initiative will enable fundamental advances in energy production, storage, and use. In the case of the University of Maryland's NEES, the research will aim to explore the nanoscience and engineering that will help improve battery storage, cycling, and capacity.

"NEES' vision is a new generation of much better batteries - powerful and long-lasting because they are based on carefully designed nanostructures. This requires that we understand: how to precisely control the multiple components (materials and shapes) of the nanostructures; how to densely pack and connect the nanostructures; how they behave – individually and collectively – during charging and discharging, and why; and how to make them safe and long-lasting over thousands of charging cycles," said NEES director and materials science professor Gary Rubloff. "The NEES mission is to provide the scientific insights and design principles needed to achieve this vision."

"Today, we are mobilizing some of our most talented scientists to join forces and pursue the discoveries and breakthroughs that will lay the foundation for our nation's energy future," Secretary Moniz said. "The funding we're announcing today will help fuel scientific and technological innovation."

Ten of the 32 projects receiving funding projects are new while the rest, such as NEES, received renewed funding based both on their achievements to date and the quality of their proposals for future research.

Since their establishment by the Department’s Office of Science, the EFRCs have produced 5,400 peer-reviewed scientific publications and hundreds of inventions at various stages of the patent process. EFRC research has also benefited a number of large and small firms, including start-up companies.

The centers selected for the second round of funding will help lay the scientific groundwork for fundamental advances in solar energy, electrical energy storage, carbon capture and sequestration, materials and chemistry by design, biosciences, and extreme environments.